Page 26 of Best Laid Plans (Rock Harbor #1)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ELLE

“ A re we a dynamic duo or something now?” Elle asked as they walked toward the main clubhouse at the Rock Harbor Country Club.

“Because you don’t need to babysit me. I pinky promised that I wasn’t going to tell anyone we slept together.

I am nothing if not a lady of my word.” And really, she was confused about Cam’s offer to have her come join him today.

The country club seemed like the last place he’d want to be, being paraded around on top of it even lower on the list.

But he’d invited her along, and it’s not like she had anything else going on. She’d been banned from her parents’ house until later tonight, when she’d be staying over to go with her mom to her dad’s surgery–or procedure–depending on who was doing the talking on the subject, early tomorrow morning.

Cam shot her an amused grin. “Aren’t these like, your people?”

Elle scoffed. “Barely. I’m sure for a lot of them, Rock Harbor is their summer home, but their main residence is in Boston. I’m, on the other hand, living in my brother’s guest room.”

“You’re just a temporarily embarrassed millionaire,” Cam said as he held the door open for her .

She lifted her brow. “Didn’t peg you as a Steinbeck fan.”

He followed her into the two-story entryway bathed in natural light. “Library books are one of the last things you can access for free. Shocking that young Cam gravitated toward stories about the poor and downtrodden.”

“Yes. Shocking,” Elle parroted, smiling over her shoulder at him.

People said that sleeping together caused more problems than solutions, but it was proving to be the absolute opposite for her and Cam.

At least from where she was standing. They’d finally found solid footing with one another, breaking through the tension and frustration and finding a… stasis, was the word that came to mind.

Without the ‘what if’ hanging over them, they could actually have a normal, albeit slightly sarcastic, conversation without it ending in them almost sleeping together or Elle stomping off and cursing him in her mind.

She hadn’t even commented on how good he looked in his fitted khakis and short sleeved button-down, which did wonders to bring attention to his biceps.

Granted, it had only been about twelve hours since Cam had been inside of her and had given her some of the best orgasms of her life, so she hoped the refractory period lasted at least a couple of days if things between them were going to get weird again.

But she pushed the thoughts away for now. A woman in her mid-thirties with bleach blonde hair and even whiter teeth was approaching them, her eyes laser-focused on Cam. “So wonderful to meet you, Cam. I’m Tricia,” she said, extending her hand. “You’re even more handsome than your pictures.”

Elle eyed Tricia up-and-down. She was pretty, in a manufactured sort of way. Her perfectly tailored black suit was designer, and she was wearing the same type of heels that Elle used to have to schlep around Boston in every day. She did not miss that part of her old life.

“And you brought a… friend?” Tricia asked, her attention shifting to Elle, who felt entirely under-dressed in her navy, high-waisted tapered pants and a fitted white tank top with a high scoop neck.

For no other reason than because of how Tricia was looking at her–like she was gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Elle hadn’t actually expected to be intentionally made to feel inferior.

She’d assumed that it would just happen naturally when she saw the price of a glass of wine at the bar or clocked the luxury cars in the parking lot.

But no. Tricia was looking at her, full-on judging her, as if Tricia were more than just the help, at the end of the day.

“This is my business consultant, Elle.” Cam said before she could let out the scoff that was building in her throat.

Elle swallowed, as Tricia gave her another appraising stare, this one with only the smallest hint of additional respect.

She shot him a look, but all he did was smile affably, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Which was so unlike Cam that now she really wondered what was going on.

“Well, then, welcome to both of you. Let me give you a tour around the clubhouse and then we’ll check out the kitchen. Sound good?” The disappointment in her tone was clear, as she looked at Cam and Cam alone, waiting for his agreement.

He put his hands in his pockets and cocked his head toward Elle. “Does that work for you, Elle? You’re the boss here.”

Now she was sure that she’d knocked her head and was living in some kind of parallel universe. She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Cam at her side, they followed Tricia through the large lobby, seating areas with plush wingback chairs flanking both sides.

Tricia pointed to the left but didn’t stop.

“The cigar room is through there.” Ten feet ahead, she stopped at a hallway.

“Down this hallway is the fitness center and changing rooms. Separate doors on each side,” she said, pointing like a flight attendant, “lead out to our recently renovated tennis and pickleball courts.”

Cam leaned over, and she could smell his aftershave as he whispered in her ear. “Really something for everyone.”

She elbowed him in the ribs and resisted the flurry of butterflies in her stomach, but all it did was make him laugh. Where was a bat when she needed it?

“Look good so far?” Tricia asked, turning around and looking at Cam again. So Elle wasn’t really Cam’s business consultant. Tricia didn’t know that.

Elle did not like this woman. At all. “Can you tell us a little bit more about the charity that the club is raising money for this weekend?” Tricia’s eyebrows rose, but Elle pushed on, a wide smile on her face.

“Isn’t that really the most important thing at the end of the day?

Who or what this event will be helping?”

She knew that the actual recipient of the donation funds was little more than an afterthought to places like the Rock Harbor Country Club.

The real point was schmoozing and patting one another on the back for a job well done, helping the society that they were gutting live to see another day.

Create the problem to maximize profits and then be lauded as heroes for helping to fix it. Double dipping at its finest.

Tricia shot her a glance that fell just on the defensible side of disdainful. “We’re partnering with the Rock Harbor Beautification Project,” she said, her voice oozing condescension.

Elle nodded somberly. “Well, who doesn’t want to ensure their hometown retains its whimsical charm.” Visions of bows on lamps and benches with plaques dedicated to the country club came to mind.

In what universe did Cam want to help these people? She gave Cam a puzzled look, but all he did was smile back, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Tricia gestured down another wide hallway. “Let’s continue with the tour? ”

“Sounds great,” Cam beamed, falling into step behind her. Elle scurried to catch up, wondering how this day could get any fucking weirder.

An hour later, Elle and Cam were seated at one of the tables in the dining room.

After showing them the rest of the grounds, along with a more extensive tour of the kitchen where Cam talked to the chef along with the staff working today, Tricia had blissfully left them to their own devices.

Cam looked around the room, which had filled with a decently sized crowd for a Tuesday lunch. “Does no one work anymore?” Cam joked in between bites of his salmon. She knew by the way he was chewing quickly that he wasn’t very impressed.

Elle put her fork down, unable to shake how strange this entire situation was. She’d never done well with ambiguity. “Cam, seriously. What’s going on here? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.”

He lifted a brow. “Can’t my consultant and I have a nice lunch on someone else’s dime? I was under the impression that these are the perks of my C-list celebrity status.”

Elle’s face reddened. She hadn’t realized that Cam could hear her when she’d been talking to Becca a few days ago on the phone.

In her defense, being trapped in such close quarters with him all weekend hadn’t been good for her sanity.

“That comment was taken out of context,” she defended.

“And I’m not your consultant, so I don’t even get why I’m here. ”

“Who would tell me which fork to use?” he asked seriously.

Elle laughed. “You’re just like my dad.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he beamed, taking another small bite of his salmon .

She started swirling her spoon around in the clam chowder she’d ordered, which didn’t come close to what Pierce’s Lobster Co.

served daily. “Well, I think you bringing me along did more harm than good to your reputation. Tricia did not seem like my biggest fan.” And she was not going to explain to Cam that it was because Tricia had looked like she’d wanted to climb Cam like a tree, and Elle was getting in the way of that.

“Sorry about that,” Cam said, genuinely remorseful. “I wasn’t expecting her to be so…”

“Bitchy?” Elle supplied.

Cam laughed. “Yeah, let’s go with that. But I thought you’d want to come along today. And as my consultant, you should be able to join on Saturday and you know… work the room,” he finally settled on, looking at her.

The consultant thing again. “Cam, I know next to nothing about what your next steps are. I don’t even know why you’re in Rock Harbor and would probably be the worst person to speak on your behalf.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m sure you could come up with something in a pinch. But I meant for you. You wanted to network to find a new job, right?” He shrugged, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Well, this is a way for you to do it.”

The air rushed out of Elle’s lungs, as the pieces slotted into place. Cam was here for her. To help her. It was honestly one of the most thoughtful things anyone had ever done on her behalf.

And she didn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t…